Jushou
by KenRik
Summary: KK. AU. Kaoru, the captain of her high school's Kendo club, mistakenly leads her team to a onesided match. Later, she finds consolation in the last person she'd want to see, the captain that led to their defeat, Kenshin Himura. Full summary inside.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

Summary: Kaoru Kamiya was the captain of her high school's kendo club. She was strong and disciplined, the perfect student for the practice. But amidst this skill, she leads her team into a onesided match with their rival school. Defeat was never an option, her father had always taught her, which was why when she got home that night with the news of her defeat, a horrid beating greeted her. Hoping to run away from the hurt, she finds solace in the presence of the last person she'd ever think of, the captain that led to their defeat, Kenshin Himura. KK. AU.

To clarify:

Genre - Romance/Drama/Friendship/Family/Humor

Theme - Coming of Age (of not only the students, but of the adults, namely Kaoru's father as well)

Age coverage - Third year of high school (for the Japanese they have three usually ranging from the ages of 15-17) to University to maybe an epilogue showing their later lives.

* * *

Jushou

Chapter 1

* * *

Kaoru closed her eyes and breathed out calmly as she tightened the front knot of her hakama. With her eyes opening after an instant, she locked gazes with her opponent amidst the heavy kendo mask she had on and took a quick step, raising and forcing down the shinai she held in a flash.

Pak!

"Sho-men!" One of the referees announced immediately with a raise of his hand. In the air, he and another referee held up Kaoru's ribbon color, red. Kaoru nodded, determined and careful with her step, as readied herself for the second round. Subconsciously tightening her grip her bamboo sword, she strained her ears for the referees cry to commence the next round. "Go!"

Just like a few moments past, Kaoru swiftly brought up her sword and swung it towards her opponent's rear in a quick flurry of movements. But before she could take a hit, her opponent took a step away at the exact moment of her execution. With her eyes widening, the back of her mind cried, telling her to swing back that instant. But, her body couldn't respond as quickly. She had given her offensive stance all the accuracy and speed she had, recoiling was impossible. She couldn't do anything. She gave away her whole figure as a target spot for her opponent. Her opponent, who wasted no time into taking up a feared stance and without a moment to spare, slammed his shinai mercilessly on her mask repeatedly, with force as plain and brutal as he could. Her mind swirled as her ears rang with the continuous snapping of the bamboo sword with her headgear. As her opponent continued to pin her down with the continuous batting of his bamboo sword, Kaoru helplessly looked around, her eyes pleading for help.

But no one rushed towards her. Everyone was frozen on spot. The referees, her coach, her team, her opponents, they were all laughing at her. It was as if they had planned it all.

Pak! Pak! Pak! Went her head.

Unable to take it any longer, she shut her eyes and curled on the tatami mats underneath her fallen build as the hits of her opponent rasped throughout the vicinity, taunting her, mocking her. Then, as tears started pooling around her eyes, as the hits and laughter ensued, a deep; coarse voice spoke suddenly in a whisper. Kaoru's eyes widened abruptly, her bones chilling, as she faced the darkness of her face's proximity to the floorboards.

"What a disgrace." Her father said, suddenly standing before her. Afraid to face him, Kaoru kept her head to the ground, her eyes trembling with unshed tears. "What a disgrace!" Her father cried, his voice echoing in an endless loop, straining her ears. Suddenly, his hand came smashing down, forcefully grabbing her by the helmet as he made her rise to her knees. "I told you to win! I never raised such a failure!"

With that, he raised his hand. And right as he smacked her down with her helmet on, Kaoru's eyes opened. Unshed tears were straining her eyes the moment she woke up from her worst nightmare. Her heart was beating quickly at the recollection. She was frightened all right. She had been frightened her whole life. But recently, ever since she agreed upon this match with her school's top rival for the tournament, dreams turned into nightmares, sleep turned into horrid awakenings, and days turned into dreaded hours.

She believed her team to be ready. That was the sole reason why she even agreed to have the match. But as much as she considered her team ready, the fear of failure, the fear of her overconfidence haunted her. What will she do if she was wrong? What if it was all in her head, them actually being ready to compete with the calibre of champions? How would she face the heavy hand of her father then?

Sighing as she closed her eyes, she tried to let the light pitter-patter of the rain calm her nerves. She fell asleep about half an hour ago at the opened partition of the dojo her team usually practices at. She let out a long worried sigh as her weary eyes wandered to the zen garden displayed in front of her. Her teammates had left hours ago, when she opted to stay. This place, the dojo, was her sanctuary from home. Ever since her mother left their family for another man, her strict father turned more cynical and demanding. Amidst this though, she accepted his wishes, hoping it would somehow alleviate his nerves. Her father was a strong man, even though he never admitted it, Kaoru knew the impact of hurt her mother sent her father's way the day she left.

Kaoru had to be strong for the both of them.

But her pillar of confidence, of strength, and of character was slowly wearing down as the day of their competition grew nearer.

Closing her eyes once again as she placed her weight, her head, on the wooden pillar beside her, she told herself that it was going to be fine.

_It will be_. A voice in the back of her mind gently reassured her. With that said, and with the air cooling soothingly around her, she gradually drifted back to sleep as the light tapping of her rain drowned her system. She stirred after a while, half-asleep when she noticed someone draping her with a warm blanket. Smiling contentedly, she resumed to sleep, closing her eyes at the humble comfort of warmth, not at all minding the flash of red filling her shutting line of sight.

* * *

_Shinai_ is the bamboo sword used at Kendo, a Japanese martial art centering on the "Way of the Sword."

_Jushou_ is the Japanese translation for winning.

_Hakama_ is the lower part of the Kendo uniform, the jogging pants or the shorts if you will, only more traditional and COOLER. You know, like the white 'pants' of Kenshin in the anime.

TBC? You know I'll only continue if you guys are interested on reading. So, I do hope to hear back from you!

And, our Kenshin in this story still has long hair, long enough to tie, not long enough for the prince of Rapunzel to scale down the tower from. And his pony tail is the high one, like his hair style during his manslayer days, only, again, with shorter, more accepted by this generation, hair.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

* * *

Kenshin's sharp amber eyes squinted as he examined the venue. Raising his arms, he proceeded to tie up his fiery red hair, his eyes not straying from the image before him, the glimmering trophy of the National Kendo Tournament. As the ace of their team, it was evident during and out of practice that his teammates shamelessly placed the burden of winning the finals on him. But as their team's most valuable player, and the sole reason why he was the ace of the team, he did not care. Kendo was his life. He did not need to be forced to practice the art. Likewise, he did not need to be forced to perfect it. And, as he placed on his mask and proceeded to the center of the court, hearing nothing but his even breathing, he would give this match, any match, his all to win. Staring straight before him, with eyes as keen as a wolf's, the last thing Kenshin heard was his breath leaving him before slashing through his opponent.

* * *

Jushou.

* * *

It was during Kenshin's second year of high school that their team had brought back the year's trophy as the most honourable and skilled of champions. And a year later, the title of captain was handed over to him in lieu of his excellence. But, now as the captain of their team, he was given more than the responsibility of continuing their winning streak— he was given the unwanted duty of keeping his team members emotionally intact. Before, if he could have been the most aloof in the group as long as he could win his matches, nobody cared. But now, everyone sought after his guidance. Every corner he took, be it during practice or in and out of school, his teammates wouldn't leave him alone.

At first, he could take it. He was a level-minded young man. Simple day-to-day problems like relationships and grades were easy to handle. But as time passed, he got sick of it. Sick and tired enough to the point of instinctive and careful hiding. Sometimes, he'd find himself diving underneath bushes just to keep away from his emotionally-malfunctioning teammates.

He had talked to a good friend about it. About why his teammates endlessly opened up to him now when they hardly even bothered to get acquainted with him at all during the past two years they've been together as a team. Sano had laughed at Kenshin, rendering the red haired teenager confused, and told him simply.

"Because you're not the scary ace anymore!" He said, laughing his guts out. "Oh god, don't you know how frightened your juniors are of you?"

Kenshin could only raise a brow in question.

"God!" Sano cried in a hearty laugh. His eyes widening as he slammed his hands on his knees and gave Kenshin a twitchy look. "You were a recluse, Kenshin! Do you know how many times people approached me asking about how to stray from angering you? Now that you're not a recluse anymore, now that you're mister captain who is actually kind and all sensitive, those juniors of yours hit the mother load!"

Kenshin closed his eyes momentarily, trying to restrain his temper as Sano's words seeped in.

"I was not a recluse." He told him simply as he opened his eyes and glared at the laughing young man.

"Oh, buddy." Sano sighed, giving Kenshin a pitying look, as he patted his shoulder. "You were. You were a recluse. You never had a group of friends or a girlfriend. And you were always alone practicing Kendo. It's truly a wonder how you landed a bro like me."

"I did not land you." Kenshin sighed, shaking his head as he stood up from the gym benches.

"You going?" His brown haired friend asked with a turn of his head. Nodding in response, Kenshin he left, saying.

"Kendo practice's up." while waving the back of his hand to him. Sano grinned as he watched his friend leave. And, unable to stop himself, yelled.

"Don't go back there Kenshin! Don't be a recluse anymore!"

Eventually, that conversation now wrought today.

The day Kenshin first met Kaoru, there were no sparks flying about. She did not have those mystifying cerulean orbs that were thought to have stolen hearts. She did not have luscious ebony locks that could compare to a goddess basking under the light of the sun. Kaoru was simply there. A girl from a different high school, with hair tied up into a high ponytail and bangs down askew; wearing a wrinkled uniform with a matching crooked tie. If anything, Kaoru Kamiya didn't seem to be one who cared for her looks.

"She's Kaoru Kamiya, the captain of Chuo Gakuen's Kendo club." Aoshi, his team's vice-captain, told him while Kenshin brought out his uniform. "She was asking for a practice match between our teams."

"Practice match?" Kenshin repeated in question, his eyes darting towards Kaoru as she watched the matches go on beside other visitors.

"I keep telling her that we aren't open to that anymore, but she wouldn't stop pestering me." Aoshi uttered, his calm demeanor hiding his furiousness. "She keeps on going about how this will make both teams stronger and how it'll form tighter bonds between the two teams. There's just no talking to that kind. And she seems as though"

"_Don't go back there, Kenshin!"_ Kenshin's eyes widened at the recollection, freezing as he held his kendogi. _"Don't be a recluse anymore!_" Sano's words suddenly echoed in ears as Aoshi kept rattling on about Kaoru's insufferableness.

Don't be a recluse!

A recluse!

_A _recluse_!_

"It's okay." Kenshin suddenly told him as he slipped on his uniform with a light smile forming on his face as he placed a firm hand over Aoshi's shoulder. "We've broken rules before."

The tall, dark haired teen just glared at him.

"You can't be serious."

"You should stop being a recluse, Aoshi." Was all Kenshin told him before the said captain disappeared into the changing room, much to Aoshi's chagrin. As he watched their club's captain disappear at a corner with a skeptical frown, he couldn't help but wonder what had gotten into Kenshin lately. It was weird.

"Recluse." He whispered lowly to himself with a frown, turning as he made his way to the young lady scrutinizing every movement of his teammates. "I am not a recluse." He said to no one in particular. Reaching out, he tapped Kaoru on her shoulders lightly to get her attention. "The captain approved. I guess I'll be seeing you in a week."

Kaoru's eyes lit at this.

"Oh, thank you!" She exclaimed, bowing repetitively in gratitude. "Well, uh, do you mind if we exchange numbers?"

Sighing for the umpteenth time that afternoon, Aoshi shook his head in defeat as he turned away from Kaoru's expectant azure eyes. She was following him with a silly smile plastered on her face after he gestured for her to come.

"There." Aoshi blandly said as he gave his smart phone a final click. "Sent."

"Really, thank you Shinomori-kun." She said with her face oozing with gratitude. "Can I see the captain? I'd like to thank him as well."

"He's changing." Aoshi told her. "I'm enough to relay the message."

"Thank you again." Kaoru smiled, bowing again before leaving the court their high school had especially for their Kendo club.

* * *

It was later on that night, when Kaoru was sitting uneasily in front of her father as he ate his dinner, that the weight of her actions started bearing down on her. With the rice cooker beside her, she got the rice bowl her father reached out to her for a refill and stuffed the white rice right in. Her cerulean eyes trembling in anxiety as her father continued speaking.

"Really? Interesting." He had told her as he ate. Then, looking at Kaoru, continued to say. "When is it?"

"In a week's time." Kaoru answered with a wry smile wrought upon by the pressure of her father's odd anticipation.

"Good." The old man told her proudly. "I'll be watching you."

"You… will?" Kaoru wavered lightly. A bead of sweat falling from the side of her face in slow, rising anxiety.

"Of course. I want to see how much you've improved." Her father smiled at her. "Beat those so-called champions for me. The only reason they won was because your team didn't compete. Saitou-kun would've brought back the trophy if things went any differently.

With that, Kaoru could only flash her father a crooked smile. She couldn't find it in herself to agree with her father, what with the degree of talent and honed skill she saw just a few days ago when she visited Machida Gakuen. Yet, she didn't disagree as well, in fear of another lecture on the difference of failure and success.

"So win for me, Kaoru."

And thus, started Kaoru's sleepless nights.

* * *

TBC.


End file.
